The Power Of Dreams
by FanmadeGlacier
Summary: After Wizards vs Werewolves  Alex just lost the love of her life but does she start sobbing & wallowing in her sadness & self-pity? No, she stands up determined to save Mason with her brand new powers and destiny. Mason/Alex, Justin/Juliet & Harper/Zeke.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 – A year without rain:-**

**Disclaimer: Obviously I do not own neither 'Wizards of Waverly Place' nor it's characters. I also don't own the song 'A year without rain'**

**-A/N: Continues on from the episode "Wizards V. Werewolves". (I am aware that Alex and Justin had this heart to heart talk but I'm pretending that it never happend).**

**Writing from a book is underlined**

* * *

_**Can you feel me  
When I think about you  
With every breath I take  
Every minute  
No matter what I do  
My world is an empty place**_

_**Like I've been wandering the desert  
For a thousand days  
Don't know if it's a mirage  
But I always see your face, baby**_

_**I'm missing you so much  
Can't help it, I'm in love  
A day without you is like a year without rain  
I need you by my side  
Don't know how I'll survive  
A day without you is like a year without rain**_

_**[A year without rain; by Selena Gomez]**_

* * *

"I can't believe this!" Alex exclaimed, as she stormed into the deserted sandwich shop. "How could that hag you call a girlfriend do that to Mason?"

"Excuse me? He attacked me!" Justin countered as he followed her; with Max trailing behind. "Juliet was only defending me and in case you forgot; he turned her into a crone!"

"Yeah, it's not like you're a Wizard or anything like that," she replied with so much malice, Justin couldn't help but flinch. "Did you forget about hand magic?"

"It wouldn't have been enough!" he yelled out desperately; guilt flowing through his mind; why couldn't he think of that? He was supposed to be the smart one. But even with all that studying, the one time he was needed the most, he failed.

"A simple barrier! You couldn't even put up a simple barrier?"

"It's not my fault!"

"You know what? I am going to find Mason and turn him back to normal! And when I do, you better hope the hag isn't there because I'll turn her to dust," she muttered bitterly before turning away with a dangerous glint in her eye and running up the stairs.

"Wow! I've never seen Alex like that before. Think we should go after her?" Max asked - in one of his rare moments of clarity and common sense. Justin was with no doubt surprised but remained silent thinking over his failure.

**The next day:**

"Hey loser, get up!" Alex yelled into her little brother's messy and incredibly filthy bedroom. She walked in intending to force Max out his bed when she tripped over something and landed with a loud 'oomph'. Lifting her head off of its position on the floor, Alex groaned loudly and examined the object that caused her fall. It was a blue wooden log. The brunette rolled her eyes and muttered, "I won't even ask."

She lifted herself off the ground and carefully made her way through the rest of the junk. When she finally reached Max's bed – a feat that took her 10 minutes (unrealistic - I know; but whatever) whereas in a normal room it would take less than 10 seconds.

"Max. Max come on, get up," Alex shook her brother, urging him to wake up but getting no response. Taking a big breath, Alex yelled; "Max! Mom made Brownies!"

Hearing this Max jumped out of his bed and – much to the amusement of Alex – started running towards the door, but before he could; Alex's hand reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him backwards, nearly choking him but Alex didn't really care.

"What the potato?" Max asked in surprise.

"Potato?" Alex asked in an equally surprised voice. "Seriously Max?"

He shrugged and asked her what she was doing in his room. His reply was a smirk and her arm attaching onto his, pulling him along as she raced out of the room.

"Where are we going?" he asked as she dragged him into the family room making him stumble repeatedly. Even as Alex answered, "to the Lair," she continued her sprint and pulled a protesting Max down the stairs into the sub-station, past the tables and into the kitchen.

There she stopped, much to the relief of Max – who was starting to feel a bit nauseous. Alex pulled her wand out from its safe keeping place; her boots.

"_**Open portal, open now,**_

_**Into the Lair, don't ask how!"**_ she chanted. A white flash could be seen in the pantry and then it open to reveal the Russo's secret Wizards Lair.

"Come on Max! You and I are going to look through the magic books to try to help Mason."

"Huh? I don't get it?"

"We," she explained, pointing at both her and Max, "are going to find a way to help Mason."

"But I thought it was impossible to return them to normal."

At this Alex's eyes narrowed. "Who said it was?" she asked, then as she turned around and walked into the lair. "And I never said _them_. Just Mason," she added without looking back, leaving her brother to follow – hopelessly confused as always.

"You search the Wiz World Web (did I get that right?) and I'll go through the books."

"Sure."

"By the way, Harper's going to help too – as soon as she gets her but out of bed," Alex informed her brother, smirking inwardly at the dopey grin that formed on Max's face. It was no big secret that her little brother had a crush on her best friend – though she could never understand why; after all Harper wasn't exactly hot. She was pretty – that was for sure – but you could never focus on that when she was wearing those freaky clothes of hers. With a wink she turned around and made her way to the bookshelf.

As Alex looked around for a book that seemed remotely useful, she found herself thinking of the irony of the situation. Once she believed that books were going to be her demise but now she was turning to them as her saviours.

Soon enough, her wandering eyes came across a seemingly promising book called 'Transformations for dummies'. With a sigh she picked up the book and headed for the sofa.

"Let's see what you've got," Alex mumbled before opening the book and scanning the index. "Werewolves... Werewolves... Ah, here we are," she exclaimed, "page 63."

Alex turned the pages until she reached her page. She then started reading like she'd never read before.

* * *

There are two types of werewolves; purebreds and mutts. Purebreds are the rarest because after millenniums of crossbreeding and converting; the werewolf race has been contaminated more so than any other race. There 3 types of transformations linked to werewolves: Human into werewolf, werewolf into human and werewolf into Wolf

- Human into werewolf:

When a purebred werewolf scratches a human with the intention of transforming them; that human is transformed/converted into a mutt werewolf. Also, when a mutt werewolf kisses a human, that human is transformed. For reversal see below.

- Werewolf into human:

A werewolf can also be transformed into a human if given a Wolf's Bane potion. For reversal, see above.

- Werewolf into Wolf:

When a werewolf is bitten by a vampire it is cursed and is forced to revert to a regular wolf. No known reversal.

* * *

**I hope you liked it! And if you did; then please review! I'd love your feedback and criticism.**

**By the way, if you had any trouble with my story formating - like how I laid it out and the colour for writing - please don't hesitate to say so.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Believe Again**

* * *

Are you swimming upstream in oceans of blue?  
Do you feel like your sinking?  
Are you sick of the rain after all you've been through?  
Well I know what you're thinking  
When you can't take it  
You can make it  
Sometime soon I know you'll see

'cause when your in you're darkest hour  
And all of the light just fades away  
When you're like a single flower whose colours have turned to shades of gray  
Well hang on and be strong

Where taking each step one day at a time  
You can't loose your spirit  
Let live and let live forget and forgive  
It's all how you see it  
And just remember keep it together  
Don't you know you're never alone

'cause when you're in your darkest hour  
And all of the light just fades away  
When you're like a single flower whose colours have turned to shades of gray  
Well hang on, and be strong

No you're not defeated  
And soon you'll be smiling once again  
Then you won't have to feel it  
Let it go with the wind  
Time passes us by  
And know that you're aloud to cry  
** ['Be Strong' by Delta Goodrem]**

* * *

"Damn it," Alex exclaimed in despair. "Max, have you-"

Alex was cut off by a cheery; "Hello everyone," from Harper.

"Harper!" Max exclaimed happily, making Alex give him an amused look. "You're here!"

"Well hiya to you Maxi boy!"

"Okay, you're perky. Way too perky. What's up?" Alex asked her best friend as she dragged her away from max

"Nothing, it's just that I'm in love!" she squealed.

Alex groaned. It wasn't that she wasn't happy for her friend; it was that it pained her to know that she might be alone for the rest of her life without Mason. "So you've come here to gloat?"

Harper, though at first insulted at the uncaring tone of her best friend, realises how much Alex is hurting. "Oh honey, how are you holding up?"

"Not good," came the reply. "Read this."

Harper took the book that was being held out and read through the text. "...No known reversal... Oh Alex," she cooed, throwing her arms around her despairing best friend.

"I woke up this morning with a can-do attitude, but I don't know if I can do it anymore," Alex mumbled, holding back never before seen tears.

"Oh come on Alex, you can't give up because of one stupid book. Be strong! And it says 'no known reversal.' Emphasis on 'known'."

Harpers consoling seemed to have a positive effect on Alex, as the unshed tears disappeared from her eyes and her voice retained its previous power and strength. "I guess so, but it's just so hard to look at the bright side of things when that impending cloud of doom is always there; waiting for you to snap."

"Wow," Harper uttered in shock. "You...You... said big words! You sound smart!"

"Hey, I did – didn't I?"

"Yes you did! Oh my god! And you were serious! Girl, you should have met and lost Mason long ago," she joked, but upon seeing the deadly look her best friend was sending her, she winced. "It's too early for jokes isn't it?"

"You think so?" Alex asked in mock astonishment; with a fake gasp for added sarcasm.

"How about we keep looking," Harper suggested sheepishly.

"No duh," Alex muttered before walking away to hit the books.

* * *

**Later**

"Alex, come on!" complained Harper, 3 hours later. "These books say nothing about how to save Mason."

"We have to at least-"Alex began to yell frustrated until her father's familiar voice reached her ears from right outside the lair. "Oh crap! I completely forgot about Dad! Act natural."

Max and Harper quickly gave Alex the books they were holding and rushed to the couch. Meanwhile Alex sprinted to the bookcase to put the books away.

Just as the doorknob started to turn Alex ran as fast as her feet could carry her and jumped onto her usual seat; to the side of the sofa. She made it just in time because as her bum landed on the seat, the door opened and Jerry Russo walked in. Well actually, he danced in.

"'Cause I'm sexy, yeah I'm sexy! And you know it baby," he sang as the 3 other occupants of the room watched in horror. He walked up to the blackboard, still not noticing the kids, and picked up the crystal ball that was on a shelf next to it.

"Looking good Jerry," he told his reflection in the crystal.

At this Alex snapped out of her trance and started giggling. In alarm, Jerry's head whipped around. He paled as he noticed his amused children and their friend.

"Yeah, looking good dad," Alex teased.

"Uh-oh-eeh-Alex! Max! Harper! What are you doing here? Wizard class doesn't start for another 5 minutes. It's not like you to be early! You're normally 20 minutes late," he stuttered in confusion.

'Wizard class?' Alex asked herself in delight. 'That's a perfect excuse.'

"What?" Alex asked in fake nonchalance, "we can't surprise you by being early? Even though you did most of the surprising - if you ask me."

"Uh-oh-eeh-what?" Mr. Russo asked, still hopelessly confused, while putting back the crystal ball in its rightful place.

"We're early," Alex answered.

"Um, okay!" Mr. Russo exclaimed. "By the way; this never happened, right?"

"Sure thing sexy," came the reply from all 3 teenagers, followed by a stream of giggles from the girls and a grin from Max.

"Right," Mr. Russo muttered. He looked around, then checked his watch. 3 minutes left. "Where's Justin? He's normally here by now." Everyone just shrugged.

After several minutes of waiting, Mr. Russo concluded that Justin was late and started the lesson. First he walked over to the black board & rubbed away the writing on it.

"Wizard class is in session," he announced, looking at his youngest son and his daughter, as well as Harper who was just a spectator.

"Okay kids, today I'll teach you how to create force fields. All wizards can create force fields but it takes incredible amounts of energy; unlike almost every spell which takes tiny amounts that you don't even notice. certain wizards with special gifts and great destinies can create force fields without using up any magical energy.

"Well then I'm out," Max said. Alex rolled her eyes and held back a nasty comment. "We all know that the only all powerful wizard in the family is Justin."

"Not necessarily, it can be any one of you. Justin is the more hard-working and studious, but that doesn't mean that he is the more powerful wizard. For example, I was the winner of the contest but my slacker of a sister Meghan (I'm not sure if that's her name) had that special gift." Mr. Russo explained.

This grasped Alex's attention. She had already met her aunt Meghan and knew that they had very similar personalities. But surprisingly, she was the better of the two. Alex was able to apologise and admit her mistakes while Meghan was far too stubborn and proud to admit her mistakes. The fact that Meghan had the special power of creating force fields gave Alex the tiniest bit of hope the she could as well.

"It's a basic thing but it's simplicity is what makes it so powerful. Force fields are basically fields of magic or life force energy that can be manipulated to your will." Mr. Russo said as he took out some marbles out of his pocket.

"These are energy measuring devices," he said. "They will measure the energy you release when performing a spell. Take and hold on to them."

"Now; to create a force field, all you have to do is close your eyes, dig deep into the magic and concentrate on the force field you want to create. Let the magic build up. Feel it work its way through your body until it reaches the tips of your fingers, and; release it." He instructed.

Seconds later Mr. Russo told them to open their eyes. Alex was the first to open her eyes, and she saw a marvellous sight. Before her eyes was Mason; but naturally he was blue and made of energy. She had succeeded; she created a force field in the image of her love. She looked towards Max and saw a gurney made of green energy.

'Max and that gurney," Alex thought in amusement. 'I wonder if he'll ever get over it.'

Alex then let her gaze wander directly to Max and noticed how drained he looked. He seemed to be struggling to stand up and he quickly slumped back onto his seat. In his hands the energy measuring sphere was glowing a bright glow while hers was as dim as ever.

"Incredible! Alex you have the gift!" Mr. Russo exclaimed. This threw Alex off. Her? The special wizard with great power and an even greater destiny?

"Your marble didn't glow! Meaning you didn't use up any energy." Mr. Russo stated proudly. He approached his little girl and squeezed the life out of her. "I'm so proud of you honey," he whispered.

Alex smiled softly. She loved it when those words were directed towards her instead of her know it all older brother.

"Dad? Can I go to room?" a breathless Max asked. Jerry nodded at his son who was looking incredibly pale and clearly couldn't stay awake much longer.

"You know Max, by re-absorbing the force field you can recover some energy. Not a lot but it's still something. Just put your hands in front of it then say 'I'm a dummy'.

Max did as instructed. "It's not working! I'm a dummy! I'm a dummy! I'm a dummy damn it!"

This had Harper, rolling on the floor in a flurry of laughs while Alex chuckled a bit.

"I'm just kidding Max. You're supposed to say 'rhunon'."

"Oh. Rhunon!" Max yelled, and the desired effect took place. The gurney disintegrated and was absorbed into the palm of Max's hands. Mission accomplished. Max regained a little colour but he was still looking drained.

"Um Alex? Can you flash me into my room?" the youngest Russo asked his older sister. She nodded and within seconds Max was in the comfort of his room.

After putting away her wand Alex turned to her father and asked him something she was thinking about for a while, "Dad, since I can create force fields with no energy, does that mean I have unlimited energy?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, by reabsorbing the force fields does that mean I have an unlimited source of magic?"

"Well not really because your body can only has a limited magical energy capacity."

"Oh," Alex mumbled disappointedly. She had been hoping that this gift of hers could be the key to saving Mason.

"But... There is jewel called the 'Emerald of Dreams', it's supposedly a counterpart of sorts to the 'Stone of Dreams'. This emerald holds unlimited amounts of energy. But..."

"But what?" Alex prodded curiously.

"But only chosen Wizards with three special powers can use it, let alone find it. And these powers are, creating force fields, telekinesis & molecule speed control **((Piper Halliwell's power for those of you who watch Charmed) the ability to freeze something, someone or a small area and the ability to blow up something, someone or a small area)**."

Alex frowned. "Care to explain?"

"Well you see; all wizards have these abilities to some extent, like using their Wands to move things, casting a spell to freeze time for a short while or zapping something to blow it up. However, if someone has the actual power, they can use it without using any energy, it's also much more powerful. A few wizards are special and have one or two of these powers but every century one chosen wizard arises that has all three powers. Chosen wizards are much more powerful than normal wizards."

Alex smiled gratefully at her father, nodded and made her way out of the Lair; Harper following closely behind.

'The Emerald of Dreams,' Alex thought in wonder as she walked away. 'I think I've finally found the key to saving my Mason.'

* * *

**For those of you who didn't understand the concept of special powers and chosen wizards and the rest; then here is a clearer explanation:**

**Force Field making:**

The ability to create force fields, which normally take lots of energy, without using any energy. Force fields can be made into any shape and size.

**Telekinesis:**

The ability to move things with your mind. Normal wizards can only move things with spells or wands, while wizards with telekinesis can move things with a wave of their hand, the squint of an eye or even just concentrating and willing things to move.

**Molecule Speed control:**

The ability to slow down molecules to a stop or speeding them up until the blow up. Basically it's the power to freeze time, things or people (when i say freeze I don't mean as in ice) and to blow things or people up. While normal wizards have to use their wands or spells; wizards with his power just make a forward motion with their hands **(like Piper does in Charmed). **If you really want to see this motion go to youtube; watch?v=w4orPslem40.

**Special Wizards:**

Wizards with one or two of the three previous powers. More powerful than normal wizards. If they lose their powers from the the wizard competition they still keep their abilities.

**Chosen Wizards:**

Only one chosen wizard is born every century (doesn't matter when in it though it's usually at the end), they possess all of the special powers and are the most powerful wizards of all time. They are automatically declared the full wizard of their family, but their siblings still keep their powers (just not full wizard powers.)

* * *

**Ok so there you have it. I added more to this chapter after I realised how useless the force field thing was. So I added more purpose and plot to it. And as you can see, I am a huge fan of the TV show Charmed (I've seen and loved every episode). Jerry is smarter in this fanfic and a little out of character so I hope you don't mind that. Zeke will be introduced soon, as well as Theressa Russo.**

**I hope you enjoyed reading this. If you did; please review or subscribe, it would make my day :D**

**BTW: anonymous reviews are now enabled :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Right here in my heart

* * *

**

_Sometimes I wanna scream_  
_Sometimes I'm in between_  
_Heaven and Hell_  
_Sometimes I wanna cry_  
_Sometimes I feel that I_  
_Can't take it anymore_

_But right here in my heart_  
_There's a song I sing for you_  
_Right here in my heart_  
_Your love still gets me through_  
_And all I feel_  
_And all I know_  
_We will find another way_  
_'Cause right here in my heart_  
_Is where you stay_

_I know you're hearing me_  
_I know you're feeling me_  
_Always touching you now_  
_And I don't want to fly_  
_And be right by your side_  
_I'm calling your name_

_If only you were here now_  
_If only you were here_  
_'Cause you gave me carousels_  
_So many magic spells_

_I'm missing you now_

_But right here in my heart_  
_There's a song I sing for you_  
_Right here in my heart_  
_Your love still gets me through_  
_And all I feel_  
_And all I know_  
_We will find another way_  
_'Cause right here in my heart_  
_Is where you stay_  
**['Right here in my heart' by Delta Goodrem.']

* * *

**

'I miss you Mason. Won't you come back to me?' Alex thought miserably as she lay in her bed the next morning. 'I miss you stopping by every morning to wake me up and walk me to school. We'd have breakfast together before we left. Then we'd get to my locker and you would push me up against it and kiss me passionately. And – Oh snap out of it Alex,' she scolded herself. 'You're acting like some kind of wimp whose life revolves around her man. I will get Mason back, I will walk to school with him, I will be kissed by him again and, most importantly, I will not be a sap!'

With her mental tantrum over done with, Alex rose from her bed and got ready for her day.

"Morning," she said as she walked into the sandwich shop.

She received numerous replies from her various family members and Harper, mostly positive except from a "Would you shut up? I'm working here!" from Justin who had finally come out of his room and was doing his Winter holiday homework early.

"So what's the plan for today Harper?" Alex asked her best friend who was at the counter looking as merry as she usually was.

"Wizard class, that's what," Jerry answered his daughter. "You need be tested for the other 2 powers. So come on, into the lair."

"What? But dad I'm doing my homework!" Justin protested, like the nerd that he was (as Alex would say). Jerry only rolled his eyes and motioned for Justin to follow.

Once they were all in the lair, Jerry began his speech.

"Well kids, yesterday we found out that Alex was one of the special wizards with the power to create force fields. Today I'm going to test you for the power of molecular speed control & telekinesis."

"First, we'll see if you can control molecules. We'll begin with freezing. You'll each receive a tennis ball. I want you to throw it in the air, concentrate on it and make a forward motion with your hands."

The 3 wizards did as instructed but to no avail. Jerry sighed and had them try again.

By the third try Alex was incredibly frustrated. "Why isn't this working? This was supposed to be my chance to save Mason! For God's sake!"

Alex finished her rant with an angry and dramatic wave of her hands that resulted in the coffee table being blown to pieces.

Jerry's eyes widened as he saw the coffee table combust and fall to pieces. "Alex," he began, but Alex was too startled by what she had done that she got scared and turned to him quickly and repeated her action. This time however, Jerry didn't explode, he froze in his position.

"Dad? Dad? Dad are you alright?"

"Way to go Alex! You froze Dad for who knows how long!" Justin snapped angrily. Truth be told he wasn't too concerned about his father as he knew Alex's special powers had only just developed 2 days ago, at the first full moon after her 15th Birthday. This meant that they weren't that strong, and Dad would unfreeze soon (not that he would tell her that particular piece of information), but would grow rapidly as the time passed.

He was just Jealous. Jealous of Alex's natural skills when it came to magic, of her special abilities and of how everything was so easy for her.

"Just shut up and help me unfreeze him! Should I just wave my hands again?"

"No! Justin exclaimed. "You might blow him up!"

Alex winced. She hadn't thought of that. "So what do we do?"

"We? There is no 'we'. This is your mess."

Just then, Max, who was messing around with their frozen dad, solved the problem by tripping over one of the tennis balls and falling onto his frozen father. Alex saw this and instinctively reached out with her hand. She unfroze her father in time for both him and Max to drop to the ground.

As her father got back on his feet and dusted himself off, Alex winced again. She was going to get in so much trouble for this. Instead, however, he flashed Alex a proud smile.

"You did it!" he exclaimed. "My daughter could be a Chosen One!"

Jerry rushed over to his daughter and gave her a big hug.

Justin cleared his throat to interrupt the father/daughter moment. "Umm dad? Don't we have another power to test for?"

"Of course! We were just taking a small break!"

Jerry returned to the center of the room to continue his lesson. "Okay, now it's time for telekinesis. There's two ways you can access this power; you can channel it through your hands or through your eyes."

"I want you to take turns to try to move the sofa."

Max was first. He stepped forward, turned to the sofa and outstretched his arms and squinted his eyes, but to no avail. Justin repeated the task to the same result as Max.

When it was her turn, Alex stepped forward and closed her eyes. 'This is it,' she thought as she outstretched her hands. Unfortunately, nothing happened. She tried squinting her eyes but that didn't work either. 'I can't believe this…I got my hopes up and tried but I failed? How does that work out? This was supposed to be my chance to save Mason! Damn it! How the hell did it come to this?'

Jerry watched sadly as tears began to well up in his daughter's eyes. He was no fool; it was apparent that she was silently falling apart. He had been happy with the possibility that his daughter was a Chosen One but all he really cared about was his daughter's happiness. He approached his daughter, intending to offer her some comfort, but his attention was diverted by the snort that came from his eldest son.

That's right. Justin actually had the nerve to snort at his sister's pending breakdown.

"Well what do you know? Little miss Alex can't handle failure. Did you actually think you would be a Chosen one?" he mocked.

Jerry's eyes flashed in alarm. In the state Alex was in he feared she might snap because of those words, and he was going to have a go at his son for them later. Instead however, she growled.

"Cut the crap Justin! I can't deal with you right now!" she yelled as she turned around with such anger, determination and power that it actually scared all the boys in the room. As she turned she outstretched her arm to point at Justin but in doing so; she released a wave of energy that sent him flying into the wall behind him.

Luckily, he wasn't injured; just a little shocked.

Alex however was more than shocked. She was beaming. "I did it! Dad. I did it! I'm a chosen wizard! I'm a chosen Wizard!"

Alex launched herself onto her father wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him tightly. She squealed loudly, before letting go and launching herself at her little brother.

When she let go, Theresa Russo and Harper entered the lair.

"What's going on? We heard screaming then squealing," Theresa asked her husband.

Jerry quickly launched into an explanation about Chosen Wizards, special powers and how Alex was a Chosen Wizard.

* * *

That night Theresa made a huge and delicious dinner to celebrate Alex's big day. Uncle Kelbo and Aunt Meghan, who upon hearing the news couldn't refuse the invite (though things were a little tense between her and her brothers), both came. Everyone was there.

Everyone except for Justin.

* * *

**So what do you think? I hope you liked it! It would have made my week even better! I still can't believe how much I've improved my writing. It used to take me at least a few days to write a chapter but this one took me less than 4 hours.**

**Don't be too harsh on Justin. He's going through a lot and as a result is acting up.**

**BTW, if any of you are fans of Camp Rock and Nate/Mitchie, I recommend that you read my new story 'In This Life'.**

**Well that's all for now. Please review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: A New Day Has Come**

* * *

_A new day has...come_

_I was waiting for so long_  
_For a miracle to come_  
_Everyone told me to be strong_  
_Hold on and don't shed a tear_

_Through the darkness and good times_  
_I knew I'd make it through_  
_And the world thought I had it all_  
_But I was waiting for you_

_Hush, love_

_I see a light in the sky_  
_Oh, it's almost blinding me_  
_I can't believe_  
_I've been touched by an angel with love_  
_Let the rain come down and wash away my tears_  
_Let it fill my soul and drown my fears_  
_Let it shatter the walls for a new, new sun_  
_A new day has...come_

_Where it was dark now there's light_  
_Where there was pain now there's joy_  
_Where there was weakness, I found my strength_  
_All in the eyes of a boy_

_Hush, love_

_I see a light in the sky_  
_Oh, it's almost blinding me_  
_I can't believe_  
_I've been touched by an angel with love_  
_Let the rain come down and wash away my tears_  
_Let it fill my soul and drown my fears_  
_Let it shatter the walls for a new, new sun_  
_A new day has...come_

_A new day has...come_  
**[****'****A New Day Has Come' by Celine Dion]**

* * *

_Knock, Knock, Knock; came the annoying sound from the other side of the living room._

_With a groan, Alex got up from her relaxed position on the sofa and slowly walked towards the door._

_Knock, Knock, Knock!_

"_I'm coming!" she yelled. 'Well this sucks. __I'm the one who has to get up and open the door yet I'm getting attitude?'_

_Alex opened the door and came face to face with Mason. "Mason!" she exclaimed, "what are you doing here?"_

"_This," he said before wrapping an arm around her and __gave her a long, hard kiss with his soft lips. Unfortunately, he had to pull away eventually._

"_I still can't believe you're mine," Mason whispered while stroking Alex's cheek lovingly with his free hand. He leaned forward and planted another kiss on her sweet soft lips. "Are you for a wonderful evening, love?"_

_Alex's eyes widened, "Oh my God! Our date's tonight? Oh I'm so sorry, let me just go get ready super quickly."_

"_Don'__t worry love; I'll be right here waiting."_

_Alex smiled and quickly pecked her boyfriend on his lips before rushing upstairs to her room to get ready._

_Half an hour later, Alex came back downstairs wearing black tights and a dark red dress that reached just above the knees. It was accessorized with a black leather belt that made the dress hug her waist in a way that made Mason want to drool. Her hair was straight as usual but now had streaks of red in it._

_To sum it up: she looked HOT._

"_I'm ready!" Alex announced, posing for her boyfriend. Mason's jaw promptly dropped and he stuttered as he tried to say something articulate._

"_W-Wow! Al-Alex y-y-you look absolutely gorgeous!"_

_Alex inwardly smirked. She fake pouted and said, "are you saying that I don't always look gorgeous?"_

_Mason's eyes widened and he quickly ran over to his girl, thinking he had offended her. "That's not what I meant love! I just meant you look even more beautiful tonight."_

_Alex giggled. "You know I always thought the Brits had dry senses of humor, yet you always fall for my sarcasm."_

_Mason blushed, but he still took her hand and walked her out the door._

_**[Later]**_

"_I love you Alexandra Selena Russo!" Mason told Alex as they stopped outside the door of the Russo home._

"_And I you, Mason Greyback, and I you," She whispered in bliss before leaning up to kiss her English prince._

_He eagerly responded by wrapping his strong arms around her and pulling her in closer._

_Before things could grow a little more heated the door opened to reveal an annoyed looking Jerry Russo._

"_What the? Alex!"_

* * *

Alex quickly jumped out of her bed, the memory of her first date with Mason quickly fading away into the back of her mind. She looked around her room until she found the person responsible for waking her up from her wonderful dream. "What?" she whined, voice cracking as she wasn't fully awake yet.

"You were supposed to be up half an hour ago! We have to meet the Council of Elders in 7 minutes!" Jerry exclaimed.

Alex didn't say anything and just sighed. She reached her hand out and her wand came flying into it from the other side of the room.

At her father's shocked look, she smirked gleefully. You see, she had been practicing her power of telekinesis and was getting better at it. Her control was better now but it was nowhere near good or even acceptable. At least it was an improvement.

Truthfully, she was a little bit surprised that she could do it. The first time she tried telekinetically calling her wand to her it was sent flying out the window. Luckily for her, and for the poor sap that would have been hit by it, she accidentally froze the wand; which allowed her to take it back.

Anyway, she started waving her wand around and chanting a spell.

"I'm running late to some stupid meeting, As unimportant as a simple greeting, But my fussing father is being annoying, So get me ready and let's get soaring."

With a white flash, Alex was transported to what looked like a space station. Naturally it wasn't but it looked really technological. They were standing in a long, narrow room with a line of… bean bags? A poke later, Alex confirmed that they were indeed beanbags. Anyway, the beanbag chairs were lined up facing one side of the room in which the wall was made of glass. They had a perfect view of a huge white room that looked really empty.

"I see you're here on time, Miss Russo. How unusual," the ancient English voice of Professor Crumbs rang throughout the room.

"Professor Crumbs!" Alex exclaimed in surprise, turning around to face the Wizard (who had flashed in and was sitting in one of the beanbag seats). "You scared me!"

"Oh?" he asked with amusement. "In that case I apologise."

"So what 's gonna happen?"

"First we'll test you for the 3 powers, then test you for some other special abilities that the Chosen had as well as any new ones you might have developed," he informed the young Wizard.

"Well let's get started!" 'Before Dad shows up and throws a tantrum 'cause I left him behind,' she added mentally.

"Very well."

Seconds later, Alex found herself in the huge empty room, where apparently she was to be tested.

"Well?" she asked herself, waiting for something to happen.

Suddenly the ground beneath her began to shake and eventually fall apart to reveal a sea of lava (like in those movies where the ground disappears and there's a pit of lava).

Alex tried to escape the path of the crumbling ground but it caught up to her and she felt herself fall.

'What do I do? What do I do? I know this is a test so one of the 3 powers must be the key to surviving! Okay, let me think I need something solid to stand or hang onto so that means…a force field!'

Alex closed her eyes and concentrated on creating a large force field to cover up the large gaping hole in the floor beneath her.

She then opened her eyes and saw that a large wave of blue energy was flowing out of her body and forming a platform beneath her. It spread and covered the entire hole. Then she squinted her eyes and concentrated on making the force field thicker. The energy obeyed her unspoken wish and began to increase. Soon enough the force field had grown thick enough for it to reach the surface.

Alex walked off the forcefield then let it disintegrate. When she did, the hole in the floor instantly rebuilt itself and clapping could be heard in the room. She looked up and saw that a group of about 10 or so, her dad included, were clapping for her in the room she was in before.

"Well done Miss Russo!" Professor Crumbs enthused.

Alex smiled at the compliment.

She was about to respond when an arrow flew past her. She yelped in surprise. Then as she turned to where it came from she saw a hail of arrows coming towards her. She hastily ran out of their way but they must have been enchanted because they changed course and turned towards her.

She extended her hands and tried all the various motions that accessed her other powers but they didn't work. She quickly closed her eyes and willed a protective force field to appear and shield her.

This move was soon followed by laughter. She looked up and sure enough they were all laughing. "What a joke the Russo's are," she could hear one of them say, despite the fact that they were whispering. "They claim their daughter is chosen yet all she can do is create forcefields. It's a shame that such a precious gift is wasted on her."

Alex growled. Very loudly. Apparently her telekinetic abilities, which were activated by her anger, gave her voice a large boost. They all turned to her with shocked expressions on their faces. "So the Russo's are jokes huh?"

She smirked at seeing the one who had been talking grow very very pale. "I'll show you a joke!"

She extended her hands with such strength that the Council of Elders before looked like they were facing death itself. At least now they knew never to piss a woman off. Especially not Alex Russo.

Alex released the fist she was making and focused her anger into that action.

One.

A crack formed in the glass wall of the room.

Two.

Many more formed until it was completely cracked.

Three.

The glass wall burst into a million shards of glass hurdling towards the Elders but before they could so much as scratch them they stopped.

Professor Crumbs looked past the millions of glass shards and saw Alex with her other arm outstretched.

Next Alex squinted her eyes and sent the destructive projectiles across the room into the wall.

"Well? Have I passed?" she asked with a cruel smirk.

* * *

**Well what do you think? I finally put in some Malex for you guys so I hope you enjoyed it. And what about Alex's powers do you like her powerful fighter girl character?**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed it :D Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – Rush**

* * *

_Into your head, into your mind_  
_out of your soul, race through your veins_  
_You can't escape, you can't escape._

_Into your life, into your dreams,_  
_Out of the dark, sunlight again._  
_You can't explain, you can't explain._

_Can You feel it, can you feel it,_  
_Rushin' through your hair,_  
_Rushin' through your head,_  
_Can you feel it, can you feel it,_

_Don't let nobody tell you, your life is over,_  
_Be every color that you are,_  
_Into the rush now,_  
_You don't have to know how,_  
_Know it all before you try._

_Pulling you in, spinning you 'round,_  
_Lifting your feet right off the ground,_  
_You can't believe it's happening now._

_Can You feel it, can you feel it,_  
_Rushin' through your hair,_  
_Rushin' through your head,_  
_Can you feel it, can you feel it,_

_Don't let nobody tell you, your life is over,_  
_Be every color that you are,_  
_Into the rush now,_  
_You don't have to know how,_  
_Know it all before you try._

_It takes you to another place,_  
_imagine everything you can._  
_All the colors start to blend,_  
_Your system overloads again._

_Can You feel it?_

_Don't let nobody tell you, your life is over,_  
_Be every color that you are,_  
_Into the rush now,_  
_You don't have to know how,_  
_Know it all before you try._

_Don't let nobody tell you,_  
_Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah_  
_Don't let nobody tell you,_  
_Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah_

_Don't let nobody tell you, your life is over,_  
_Be every color that you are,_  
_Into the rush now,_  
_You don't have to know how,_  
_Know it all before you try_  
**['Rush' by Aly & AJ]**

* * *

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Alex looked around for the source of the clapping, wondering where it could have come from. This place was truly confusing.

Suddenly the whole building disintegrated, leaving Alex hopelessly confused as the adrenaline and anger she was experiencing faded away. And in the building's place was a large arena full of people. Or were they wizards? Either way they were cheering and applauding. Some of them held banners and signs with her face on them. Were they actually cheering for her?

"Alex Russo! A voice bellowed throughout the whole arena. "You are the newest Chosen one of the Wizard World! You have passed the first 3 tests but now; the real test begins!"

"Are you ready Miss Russo?"

Alex turned around to face Professor Crumbs and the Council of Elders. "Why am I doing another test," she asked. "You've already seen that I am a Chosen one."

"I can answer that," a strange man answered. Alex looked towards him as he approached from her right. She looked him up and down; he was dressed in extravagant robes, but was really different about him was the kindness and wisdom present in his eyes and face, in his ancient looking eyes and face.

"Master Eraqus," gasped the Council before bowing down, Professor Crumbs included. She looked around as the arena went silent, even her parents, Max and Harper. However that could be because they were just following everyone else's example.

"Who are you," I asked this Eraqus guy. The Elders gasped and a few of them glared at Alex.

"I am Eraqus, both oldest living wizard and Chosen one," he replied kindly. My eyes widened, this man was a Chosen one? Would I ever be like him? He radiated an aura of wisdom and knowledge; kindness and goodness; purity and benevolence.

"Um," she stuttered, awed by his presence. "It's an honour to meet you."

"It's an honour to you too," he replied. "Anyhow, it's time for your fourth and final test; 'The battle with the armed creature'. The purpose of this test is to determine if you are worthy of the title and to test for any new powers."

Alex smiled, nodded and, after a pointed look from Professor Crumbs, bowed to show her respect.

She looked back towards her family and saw them give her a thumbs-up each. She mock saluted them then walked confidently to the middle of the arena.

"Are you ready?" boomed the voice.

"You bet," Alex whispered to herself. Alex quickly got into a fighting stance. Or as much of as a fighting stance as you could expect from Alex.

Looking back at herself a few days, Alex couldn't believe she changed so much in only a few days. She'd grown from having the mind frame of a 16 year old to a more mature, less rebellious young woman. She shook her head in amusement as she murmured to herself; "I really need to pull a prank on someone, or at least go on a shopping spree."

All of a sudden, a white flash appeared and a gargantuan white armoured creature appeared. It was incredibly intimidating and it almost made Alex want to pee her pants.

It had rather thick, short legs with spikes on its hips and long, pointed feet. Its waist was quite thin and had dark grey sides. Its shoulders each sported a gigantic, diamond-shaped spike and its arms were very long, and could easily reach the floor when fully extended down.

* * *

At the sidelines Professor Crumbs watched in horror. "How is this possible?" he asked his fellow council members. They only shook their heads in confusion and broke out in whispers.

"It's huge, much bigger than it's ever been. And stronger too, so I ask again; how is this possible? The magical energy radiating from it is immense."

"Should we help her?" one of the council members asked.

"No," Master Eraqus said, interrupting the yes about to come from Crumbs. "I want to see what she's capable of."

* * *

Meanwhile, the beast started to advance on Alex, who in her panic tried to freeze it. It didn't work however. It then attacked her; stretching its claws towards her, beyond natural capability.

'Great,' Alex thought. 'I'm up against elastic-man."

She quickly put up a force field to protect her, but it was so small it barely stopped it. Alex tried to blow him up but that didn't work either. She tried to dodge its next attack, as she was so scared that she couldn't concentrate. Where was that courage she showed earlier? However she failed, and ended up being knocked off of her feet.

Minutes later Alex was left bruised and battered a few feet away from the beast.

'Mason,' she thought as she fell unconscious.

* * *

"_Wow, don't you look hot today?" Alex jokingly asked her boyfriend as he approached her locker. He, of course, was dressed normally and didn't look any different than everyday._

"_Only the best for you, love," he teased playfully, and Alex swore she could have melted right there and then. She leaned closer and wrapped her arms around her beau, who gladly returned the affectionate embrace._

_Mason smiled in admiration at the beauty he had in his arms. He still couldn't believe that someone as exquisite and wonderful as her was able to love him; to care for him; and to return his feelings._

_It hadn't been long since he confessed his feelings to Alex and found out that they were reciprocated. Everyday since then has been absolutely blissful._

_He could feel the warmth radiating from Alex. Who knew? Tribeca Prep's stone cold girl actually had a heart of gold. Something that only he, and occasionally her friends and family, got to see. As Alex pulled away he pulled her back in and leaned in to kiss her._

_She gladly returned the kiss and pressed herself closer, not that he minded; in fact he relished the closeness._

"_I love you," he whispered as the both pulled away. She smiled and pecked his lips lovingly. "I love you too Mason. You are my world."_

"_And you mine. You make me feel like I've never felt before."_

* * *

'Where am I?' Alex thought as she opened her eyes, waking up from the dream. 'Oh yeah, at the arena, getting my ass kicked.'

'But not for long,' she thought as an image of Mason came to mind. 'I'm not letting him down. No way in hell!'

"Ready yourselves," Professor Crumbs told the rest of the council. "We will have to take down this terrible creature!"

The rest of the council nodded and got their staffs and wands out.

"Wait," commanded Eraqus. "She's getting up."

Surely enough Alex was lifting herself, slowly but surely, off the ground.

Alex wearily took a few steps forward before standing still with her head down low. She let out a low growl before lifting her head and arms up. With her head thrown back and hair flying as her telekinetic powers surged through her body Alex looked like the embodiment of power. "Die," she cried out before attempting to send the creature flying. Her magic however was blocked by something. 'Could it be the armour?' she wondered. If it was then it had to have weak spot. And right on cue the creature started moving around, twisting its body and stretching it; it was moving around the arena swiftly and almost instantaneously. In doing so it revealed that its back was unprotected by armour and must have been its weak spot.

The only problem was that it was being careful not to expose its back to her and this left all her abilities useless. 'I wish I could be in 2 places at once,' Alex thought sullenly.

And there she was, behind the creature who for some reason didn't turn around. And she saw why. There, in front of her and the creature was, well, her. There was a copy of her right ahead, but it was looking limp.

Without taking the time look things through, Alex whistled, drawing attention to herself. The creature turned around and faced her, as did the eyes of everyone else in the arena. It seemed that they hadn't noticed her earlier. She actually found it amusing how their heads flicked back and forth between her and the other her in confusion.

"Hey buddy," Alex yelled. "Come and get me!"

And as the white beast lunged towards her, Alex felt herself fade quickly. Before she knew it she was where she started. Quickly taking action Alex blasted the exposed back of the creature. Then, before it could react, she froze it. After seeing that her blast had only wounded it slightly Alex was stumped on how to defeat it.

'Come on, come on! What can I do? Move it into a volcano? Too bad there is no volcano here. Cast a spe- That's it! I'll cast a spell! Thank God poetry's the only thing besides art that I'm good at!'

Alex could hear the whispers of the crowd as they waited for her to do something, especially with her enhanced hearing. She could even hear the Council of Elders.

"It's hopeless, there's nothing she can do," some of them were saying.

Alex smirked. 'You just wait.'

"Is that so?" she asked. Her voice magnified again, so they could all hear her. "I think there is something I can do."

"Powers of light,

Magic of right,

Cast this blight,

Into forever's night!" She chanted.

Subsequently, the beast unfroze and started spinning and a mist surrounded it before it burst into flames and exploded with a bang.

At the sidelines Master Eraqus stood there with wide eyes and a pale face. "Such power…such strength," he muttered in disbelief. "The rest may not realise this but that girl holds power than any magical being, past and future, could hope to have. It will be an honour to watch over her and see how things will turn out for her. I sense that she is searching. But for what, pray tell?"

* * *

**Well that's it for now, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I certainly have because I think I've finally figured out where I'm going with the main plot of the story.**

**I would have had this up by Friday but it was too late too post it and I was stuck at the dentist for most of yesterday. Don't ask how.**

**Anyway, please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Never Left Behind**

**Thank you for reading everyone! I absolutely loved all the reviews. So thank you **this-x-is-x-me, JainaZekk621 and threewordseightletters. **As well as **Zana & Sterlingsilver90210 (whoever you guys are). **So here is chapter 6, Never left behind.**

**

* * *

**

I know this really isn't you  
I Know Your Heart Is Somewhere Else  
And I'll Do Anything I Can  
To Help You Break Out Of This Spell  
I See You Following your Crowd  
I Know You're Trying To Fit In  
But If Your Gonna Find Yourself  
You Gotta Start From Deep, Deep Within

Hold On To What You Believe

_[Chorus]_  
I Will Always Be Your Friend  
I Know Who You Are Inside  
I Am With You Till The End  
Never Far Behind  
I am standing in the distance  
You can take your time  
And I will be there waiting  
Never Far Behind  
Yeah  
Never Far Behind

I Am Sending You A Message  
Don't ever Think That It's Too Late  
When You Care About Someone  
There is always room for change  
you're allowed to make mistakes  
it's a part of every life  
I Don't See you any different  
The Truth Is Shining In Your Eyes

Hold On To What You Believe

_[Chorus]_  
I Will Always Be Your Friend  
I Know Who You Are Inside  
I Am With You Till The End  
Never Far Behind  
I am standing in the distance  
You can take your time  
and I will be there waiting  
Never Far Behind  
Yeah  
Never Far Behind

You Can Take Your Time  
And I Know  
From My Heart

I Will Always Be Your Friend  
I Know Who You Are Inside  
I Am With You Till The End  
Never Far Behind  
I am standing in the distance  
You can take your time  
and I will be here waiting  
Waiting by my side  
God  
Is Never Far Behind  
I Am Sending you a message

**['Never Far Behind' by Aly&AJ]

* * *

**

"Oh Honey! Thank God you're alright!" Theresa exclaimed. "I was so worried when that thing threw you to the ground."

"I'm okay Mom," Alex assured her mother, who pulled her in to a tight hug. Alex smiled at the comforting gesture, after all these changes in such a short period of time, it felt nice to know that she still had a home to go back to and family to fall back on. She returned the hug and was then joined by Harper, Max and Jerry. Alex was taken aback by the emotion she could sense from them, and basked in the comfort that was her family and friends.

"You did great honey," Jerry told his daughter when they all released her. Alex merely grinned and asked, "Where's Justin?"

Jerry's face immediately fell. He sighed and scratched the back of his head nervously, saying, "He didn't want to come."

"Yeah," Max agreed enthusiastically. "He said 'why would I want to go see that sorry excuse of a sister embarrass herself in front of thousands'!"

Jerry, Theresa and Harper simultaneously groaned and shook their heads.

"Oops. I was supposed to not say that right dad?" Max asked his father. At Jerry's nod he asked, "What about the other thing he said? 'Hah! That loser can't even cast a spell without messing up! Do you really think she can do this? Make her drop out, otherwise she'll just bring shame to the family'."

The other three face palmed and sent annoyed glares at Max while Alex just had a hurt and disappointed look on her face.

"He said that?" She asked. At everyone's reluctant nods, her eyes got colder, fiercer and, in a way, they became hollow. And then shocking everyone, her irises turned an icy blue.

"Alex?" Jerry inquired carefully. "Why did your eyes turn blue?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Alex asked irritated. She frowned and decided to conjure a mirror. "_Oh item that I seek, I conjure thee now! / Transcend, to get here, all borders my magic will allow!_"

Almost immediately the mirror appeared and hovered in front of her face. It was eas enough to see that her eyes had indeed turned blue, and not just the pupils; but they were glowing blue, like monsters eyes did in movies.

Alex scowled and turned around, trying to locate Master Eraqus. Once she spotted him, conferring with Professor Crumbs, took her wand out of her right boot and flashed herself to him.

"Eraqus," she said, when she got threw. "Why exactly are my eyes blue?"

Professor Crumbs looked taken aback by Alex's blue eyes but he composed himself and scolded Alex for speaking to Master Eraqus in such a disrespectful manner. *Insert eye roll here*.

"I wouldn't mess with her right now Crumbs."

"And why's that?"

You see, the colour of her eyes depicts her state. Her eyes are blue because she's feeling hurt and as a result hardened her heart. It should be rather obvious to figure out what colour means," Master Eraqus explained.

"But why does she even have this ability," Jerry asked. "It doesn't make sense and seem kinda random."

Master Eraqus chuckled. "Well, Mr. Russo, the thing is, as you know Chosen Ones obtain their powers at a young age and as a result are more sensitive than most people. They are quick to anger and irritate, more likely to cry at a sad moment and to seal off their heart when they are hurt. They get attached to love very easily too. This gift was bestowed upon the Chosen line when a Chosen one from the 1600s fell into a depression, without anyone knowing, and committed suicide, but not before wreaking havoc on the Wizard World. It makes bringing them up easier."

Jerry nodded understandingly and thanked Master Eraqus while Alex just rolled her eyes and flashed herself back home.

* * *

"Ah, it's good to be back home and away from all that magic crap," Alex sighed as she slumped into the orange living room couch.

Just as she was beginning to drift off into a welcome sleep, Justin's voice rang throughout the house. "Mom? Dad?"

The sound of feet stomping down the stairs could be heard in the distance.

"Where the hell have you guys been?" Justin asked as entered the living room. "Do you know how worried I was? I even thought that some government agency researching Wizards captured the rest of you."

Alex didn't reveal her slumped form and decided to avoid her bastard of a brother for as long as possible.

"Mom? Dad? Max? Harper? I could have sworn I heard someone," he whispered to himself. Alex, however, heard and became even more infuriated.

"Excuse me?" she thundered, almost scaring Justin to death. Alex rose from her seat and stomped over to her older brother. "Hey Moron! Did you forget about me; your little sister? Or are you too good to acknowledge me? After all, I am a loser who can't do a spell without messing up!"

Justin paled once he figured out why Alex's words seemed so familiar, after they were his! He gulped and backed away in fear; unlike he would have done previously, after all; his sister now had powers that could annihilate him. The fact that she had blue eyes didn't help either.

At seeing the frightened look in her brothers eyes, Alex's eyes softened and the coldness left to reveal only hurt. Her irises also turned grey.

Silence.

Even when Justin saw that Alex was no longer looking like a mass murderer, and Alex saw that Justin wasn't cowering in fear anymore, neither was willing to break the silence. It was just too awkward.

Finally, after a ridiculous number of minutes passed, Alex asked, "Is this because of Juliet?"

Justin didn't answer but the lone tear running down the side of his face was enough of an answer for Alex. She approached her brother and hugged him. "If it makes you feel better, I won't turn her into a pile of ash when we find her."

Though at first surprised by the unusual sisterly affection, cracked a smile and returned the hug. It didn't last long because he suddenly pulled away and asked, "When we find her?"

"Of course," Alex smiled. "You didn't think I'd let you remain a lonely old geezer, did you? As much as I dislike her right now, I can see how much you love her and my big brother's happiness is way more important than my resentment towards her."

Justin smiled a bright smile, showing off his pearly whites – another Russo trait, – and wrapped his arms around Alex, spinning her around while she screamed at him, begging for him to stop.

Once he let her go they both walked towards the kitchen where, by an unvoiced request from his sister, Justin started making two ice cream sundaes. "So, I take it you passed the tests?"

Alex answered yes. Justin then groaned in annoyance. "This sucks! I missed one of the biggest events of the century!"

Alex smirked and said, "Well there's always the rerun."

"What rerun? This wasn't some kind of TV show episode that I missed. You'd think all this magic; the Wizard World would be able to record something as big as this.

Ignoring her brother's words, Alex silently said a spell she'd just come up with, _"Time is fleeting; it goes by too fast / so give me a window to view the past!"_

Immediately a floating portal appeared right in front of Justin, and as soon as he looked at it, it began showing – from a third person view – what happened for both tests.

"Wow," was the only word he uttered when he was done.

Alex smiled at his reaction and started teasing him, telling him to close his mouth otherwise flies would go inside. Justin blushed and quickly went back to making the sundaes.

'It's nice to know that things are going back to normal,' Alex mused. 'As normal as they can anyway. Hmm, I wonder what's taking mom and dad so long. Oh snap! They're going to be so pissed I left them with Max of all people! He probably flashed them to Mars or something.' Alex started panicking but after breathing deeply for a few seconds she shrugged and started to smirk. 'Yup, things are definitely back to normal.'

* * *

**Weird place to end it, I know. But I really wanted to get this out before school starts tomorrow. Oh and by the way, if any of you are Camp Rock fans and like the pairing Nate/Mitchie please check out my other story 'In this life'.**

**I know it's pretty short so I promise you the next chapter will be longer than most, if not all, the previous chapters. Also I'm already thinking of ideas for a sequel, that is if you want one.**

**And like I always say: PLEASE REVIEW**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6: Operation Kloden**

I'm really sorry to have left you waiting for so long. That is if you're still reading. Here's chapter 7 and believe me; the next update will be here within a week. Now go R&R ;)

* * *

**Doing everything that I believe in**  
**Going by the rules that I've been taught**  
**More understanding of what's around me**  
**And protected from the walls of love**

**All that you see is me**  
**And all I truly believe**

**That I was born to try**  
**I've learned to love**  
**Be understanding**  
**And believe in life**  
**But you've got to make choices**  
**Be wrong or right**  
**Sometimes you've got to sacrifice the things you like**

**But I was born to try**

**No point in talking what you should have been**  
**And regretting the things that went on**  
**Life's full of mistakes, destinies and fate**  
**Remove the clouds look at the bigger picture**

**And all that you see is me**  
**And all I truly believe**

**That I was born to try**  
**I've learned to love**  
**Be understanding**  
**And believe in life**  
**But you've got to make choices**  
**Be wrong or right**  
**Sometimes you've got to sacrifice the things you like**

**But I was born to try**

**All that you see is me**  
**All I truly believe**  
**All that you see is me**  
**And all I truly believe**

**That I was born to try**

**I've learned to love**  
**Be understanding**  
**And believe in life**  
**But you've got to make choices**  
**Be wrong or right**  
**Sometimes you've got to sacrifice the things you like**

**But I was born to try**

**But you've got to make choices**  
**Be wrong or right**  
**Sometimes you've got to sacrifice the things you like**

**But I was born to try**

**['Born to try' by Delta Goodrem]**

* * *

"Attention!" Alex yelled, jolting her two siblings awake.

"Huh?" Justin asked when he saw his sister walk into the Lair. "Where's Dad? Aren't you supposed to be having some kind of special tution?"

Alex shrugged. "I ditched and got Dad's permission to be your teacher for the day."

"Teacher! You?" Both Justin and Max exclaimed.

Alex sighed in frustration and shot them each a glare. The one she sent Max clearly stated, 'I wish you were never born you pesky rat!' but the one she sent Justin clearly held disappointment and a bit of hurt.

Upon seeing this, Justin said; "don't get me wrong, I know you're an all-powerful full Wizard after all, but what do you know about teaching Wizardry?" Justin's little sister then shrugged.

"Nothing, but who cares I'm here to teach you the instructions of my plan to save my werewolf and your ha- I mean vampire."

"Really?" Justin jumped out of his seat. "How?"

"Wait a few seconds, will you? You know I'll tell you about it." She paused for a bit. "On second thought; I'll just show you." And before anyone could react, Alex's hands were already glowing and she was waving them randomly through the air. "Making force fields is no biggie – but strategic plans are a sticky – mess that I need help with doing! – So do it for me unless you're up for some badass suing!"

Alex waited for something o happen but got no reaction except for a few suppressed giggles from her two brothers. "Yeah, I agree. It wasn't my finest work," she muttered begrudgingly. Suddenly inspiration came to her in the form of a stanza with an ABCB rhyme scheme. (don't even ask me why I included that but it might have been because I just finished analyzing some random poem which I can't even remember the name of for homework.)

"Since my brothers are brainless dunces – a boring lecture will bring no good of any kind – so they will be able to visualise – the info I send into their empty minds."

Ignoring the insulted exclamations from Justin and Max, Alex went ahead with the spell and a blue stream composed of what appeared to be data in the form of computer language (zeros and ones: 00110010000101000100101….) shot out of her mind and split into two. One half of it went to Justin and the other half to Max.

"So am I clear?"

"Crystal," Justin answered with a proud smile on his face. "I just can't believe you thought of that."

"Whoever said I did?" Alex giggled. "I just stopped by some nerd convention and scammed them into giving me a plan. I said I was a writer and I needed a little supernatural and adventure expertise. They fell for it like a brick being dropped from a 12 story building." If Justin wasn't in a state of disbelief at the moment, he would have frowned at the use of a simile. Since when did Alex use similes? "But I think it had more to do with my gorgeous looks than it did with my cover story," she continued. "But either works for me!" And then Justin would have stopped frowning and thought: 'Now that's the conceited, self-absorbed and schemer that is my sister!'

But what really happened was… well lets just say that if this were an anime Max, in this rare moment of mental clarity, would have face palmed and Justin would have sweat dropped. But in reality they just sat there – jaws dropped, clearly in disbelief – and in other words looking plain ugly.

"You are unbelievable!" Justin exclaimed.

Alex just smirked and thanked him for the 'compliment'. Justin just shook his head and conjured up a 3D map of the area where Mason and Juliet were lost. They then went through the plan, making their own changes and using their knowledge of the magical world to adapt it into the perfect operation.

* * *

"May I have your attention please?" Justin began, as the last person took a seat. "This presentation is about to begin."

Alex rolled her eyes. She still couldn't believe Justin was actually making her do this with him. _"We have to do this properly!' _he said._ 'In order to succeed we must… _blah blah blah blah_!"_ Frankly, Alex thought that inviting the families of Mason and Juliet over to discuss **Operation Kloden** – as he called it – was just plain ridiculous.

"Alright then, I've called here today to inform you of our plan to rescue Mason and Juliet. It's highly important that we receive good feedback and that you tell us anything you know that we don't. Before I explain the plan, do you have anything to say Alex?"

She nodded. "Please remember that there are mortals here so if you already know some of the stuff we'll say, just shut up and hear it out. 'Kay?"

Justin snickered slightly at his sisters blunt ways and the indignant looks on both the Greyback's and the Van Heusens faces. He then shook his head and conjured up a 3D map of the area where their loved ones were lost.

"Okay, so this castle is where Mason and Juliet were turned into their wild forms," he said, gesturing to the castle that appeared before them. He then continued, "so unless Mason grew a pair of wings and Juliet was willing to risk being turned into a pile of ash, they should still be in this area; the Kloden Wildwood," now he pointed at the large expanse of forest surrounding the castle.

"The Kloden Wildwood is full of many mystical creatures that are only visible to other magical creatures, so while mortals are safe from them and able to see them, we won't be. Which is why Alex will handle all the combat; but I'll be looking through the magic books to see if there's a way for Max and I to channel our powers into an attack using our wands."

"Also," Alex said. "Justin and I will write some spells to be able to communicate with each other quickly and efficiently as well as a spell to find and possibly capture your children. Now do you have anything to add?"

Silence. Complete and utter silence. The two families sat there looking shocked and dumbfounded.

"Wow, you actually thought up a _flawless_ plan!" Mr. Van Heusen exclaimed begrudgingly. He never _did_ like wizards.

The Greybacks simply nodded, telling Alex to go on.

"Now I need to know; how can you turn them back?"

"You brought us all the way here and excited us and now you tell us you don't know how to change our daughter back?" Mrs. Van Heusen hissed.

Alex shrugged, "We have a few options but we still need to know if there's another way."

Mr. Greyback sighed. "Well, in order to change Mason back, the Van Heusen's have to bite him where Juliet bit him."

Then Mr. Van Heusen said that the Greyback's had to scratch Juliet where Mason did.

"Oh thank God!" Alex exclaimed, feeling incredibly relieved, finally she could save her Mason. "You don't know how much of a relief that is! 'Cause I was bluffing, we got nothing."

Harper, who remained silent until now, giggled at her best friend's antics.

"Wait!" Justin interrupted, "if it's that easy then why didn't you do it before?"

The two families looked reluctant to say something.

"Because," Mrs. Greyback said, speaking at last, "doing so is punishable by death."

* * *

**Thanks for reading and I hope I won't get too many flames for making you wait almost two months. Sorry :(**

**Anyway the next chapter is already underway. See ya soon.**

**And don't forget to review ;)**


	8. Chapter 8

"Huh? Why?" Justin asked, clearly dumbfounded by the revelation. "If they could save a fellow Werewolf or Vampire, why would the two races forbid it?"

"Simple," Mrs. Greyback answered. "The hatred between our two races is so deep that our leaders would rather lose one of their own than let an enemy of theirs live. And the problem is if we were to save Juliet and if the Van Heusen's were to save Mason; then the leaders of the two races would be able to sense it and would kill all 6 of us."

"Well that's stupid," Alex muttered angrily. She was really hoping that they could get this over and done with quickly, so while the others stood there she brainstormed some ideas; literally. "New plan!" Alex exclaimed. "For now we'll focus on rescuing the two. After that we'll deal with the transformations."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Mrs. Van Heusen asked.

"I've got a couple of ideas in mind but it will be difficult at best," the Chosen muttered. "I'll have to see Master Eraqus about it."

The 4 nodded and after saying goodbye they went their separate ways.

"So do you really have a new plan or are you just saying that?" Justin asked his sister.

Alex smirked and winked playfully. "Well you'll just have wait to find out, won't you?"

**ȸ**

"Well? Say something."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Oh I don't know! Maybe you can say something like 'excellent plan Miss Russo! Very well thought out! It will most definitely work, so as a reward I shall make you head of the Wizard World' or something."

"Something."

"Now that's just rude!" the girl fumed. Alex Russo was currently in the Wizard World largest/only Citadel which was where the members of the Council resided. The place wasn't that big as the Council was only around 20 people and they were just old and worn bones hidden by wrinkly skin that would make any beautician wince in horror. There were a few servants here and there but not many of them actually lived in the citadel. Anyway, Alex was Master Eraqus' study – a rare privilege apparently – and was discussing her plan to save Mason and Juliet with him.

"So let me get this straight. You and Justin will go into the Kloden Wildwood and you will cast that tracking spell you wrote. Then you will freeze them and transport them to your home where you will invoke the power of previous chosen ones to reverse the curse?"

"Yeah."

"You do know that it only takes one chosen and a simple spell right?"

"…."

"Miss Russo?"

"WHAT!" Alex screamed, startling the old man. "Are you effing kidding me?"

"You didn't know?"

"Do I look like I knew? If I did I wouldn't have spent all those nights without sleep working on the spell. Grrr…"

Master Eraqus backed away slowly, he didn't want to be on the receiving end of a female chosen's rampage. The last time he was he thought he'd never be able to have kids. Not that he ever had anyone willing to carry said kids or even be with him at all. There was the occasional hag but he always refused. They tended to be too clingy – especially since the wanted to put him and a cauldron and boil him but that's not really the point. The point was that Chosen Women were Hell Incarnate when they were mad.

"What's the spell?" she demanded.

"I'll email it to you by wand," he replied breathing in relief when she zapped herself out. He looked out the window and sure enough a storm was brewing. Master Eraqus frowned and concentrated, willing away the storm that Alex's anger had summoned, and when he was done he frowned deeply. "I'm beginning to think she has too much power under her control, that storm took far too much for me to dispel. What do you think, Crumbs?"

"Personally I think she has proven herself capable of controlling her power. You can't put her at fault when she isn't aware of the extent of her powers," Professor Crumbs replied from his position at the doorway.

"I suppose you're right but I can't help but worry. The power she possess has only begun to awaken yet she is almost as powerful as me, maybe even more."

"Can't you look into the future and see what will happen next?" Crumbs asked casually, not expecting Eraqus to look at him with great alarm clearly shown on his ancient face.

"How do you know about that?" he demanded. "No one knows about that ability of the Chosen!"

Professor Crumbs frowned. "Crumbs didn't know about that? What a shame. And here I thought I was doing great at impersonating him."

Before the Ancient Chosen could even react the impersonator took out his wand and morphed into a shrouded figure. "I've waited an eternity for this chance and thanks to that wretched Russo it is finally here! **SHE **will be pleased."

"Who are you?" Eraqus demanded, both curious and frightened as it must have took great power for this person to shield his true identity from a Chosen. And now he was going on about a chance to do something and how ironic it was that it was 'Russo' was the one to enable his revenge against her. Master Eraqus stopped following the conversation after that since the guy started rambling about beards and how cool and all powerful they would make him look and as the lunatic paced around the room, Master Eraqus discreetly moved his wand over and flashed himself into safety. The last thing he heard before the standard white light engulfed him was "Dammit! He got away!"

**ȸ**

"You ready?" Justin asked softly as he walked out onto the terrace to join his sister.

"Yeah I guess so," she replied. "It's just, I feel like I'm walking in circles, like no matter what I do I'm going to fail just because I'm not good enough."

"What makes you think that?" he asked.

"Everything!" She exclaimed. "So far everything I've done has been out of pure instinct. I defeated that huge white monster without even knowing what I was doing! I was ready to head into the wilds with untested spells and I was going to do a whole ritual that was not only unnecessary but would probably have done more harm than good!"

"What do you mean more harm than good?"

"I meant exactly what I said! Eraqus said that one chosen and a simple spell was enough but I was ready to invoke the power of who knows how many Chosen. Can you imagine was damage that much energy would have caused; to both Mason and I? And the rest of the city – not excluding you guys?"

"I'm not sure I really get it," Justin admitted. "You only would have invoked the energy needed , right? And if you needed just one chosen then you wouldn't have invoked any energy at all."

"What do you know," his sister screamed. "I'm the freaking Chosen One here! I'm the more powerful wizard! You are just a useless idiot!"

Justin's eyes widened dramatically his pupils seemingly getting brighter in realization. The tall teenager then smirked, knowing he reason behind his sisters behavior. "You're afraid," he stated. "You're afraid that things will go wrong, so instead of building your hopes up and failing, you'd rather not try at all and not face failure, isn't that right?"

The emotionless loom he received was answer enough.

"Come on Alex," he told her, pleading for her not to give up and bring the light back into their lives. "You can do this! You're strong; brave; smart. You may think you're only a failure but you're not. You're the strongest person I know and I think you proved that when you won the wizard competition when we were in the Caribbean."

"So I'm the best of a bunch of losers… greaaat…"

"…"

Feeling a strange prickling sensation close to her neck, yet not daring to turn around, Ales whispered a summoning spell so quietly that you would not have been able to hear it even if you were pressed up right against her with your ear right next to her mouth.

Within moments a large mirror appeared ahead of Alex and she caught Justin's shocked form remove its hands from their position next to her neck.

"Justin, would you care to explain why you were trying to choke me?"

"I wasn't actually going to choke you," he mumbled knowing what was to come next.

Alex sneered, turning around to face her brother and holding a finger in front of him – a simple gesture that made him shiver in fear.

"Please don't," he begged.

"I'm sorry but it's the only way you'll ever learn," she answered not looking sorry at all.

**ȸ**

5 minutes later Justin found himself hanging from a newly erected pole in the middle of Waverly Place. Every so often people would stop to gawk and laugh at his embarrassing situation befor snapping a photo and moving on. Even going to prom with a she male as his date wasn't as embarrassing as this – especially since quite a number of guys tried to flirt with his date do they couldn't really make fun of him for that.

But at least Alex was feeling better now. Justin snickered, thinking of his sister. She'd changed so much in the past week but no matter what, being petty and vindictive would always cheer Alex up, the girl was just too evil for her own good.

**ȸ**

Meanwhile, while Alex was in her room cackling evilly and Justin was hanging from a large pole somewhere in his underwear, Max Russo took the time to do something that happened just as frequently as the discovery of a new Chosen One. He thought. He thought of all the changes in his family recently, he thought of his sisters new status and he thought of what a relief it was that he wouldn't lose his powers in the competition. Max thought of the friendly and brotherly Mason and the sweet and charming Juliet – and he thought of their disappearance as well as the mission to rescue them. The teen though of how small he felt next to his siblings – there was the All Powerful Chosen Alex and the intelligent, studious and lovable Justin, while he was the dorky, stupid Russo that people shied away from thinking him to be a pathetic freak.

"It doesn't have to be that way, you know."

Max was distracted from his musings by a mysterious voice. And it wasn't the lack of a face or body that made the voice mysterious but the sound of it. Max felt warmth and comfort radiating from it, and at the same time he felt hatred and rage. When he closed his eyes he saw bright vibrant lights on one side and opposing these radiant beautiful lights here was a storm of black red and dark purple and blue. The colours of evil, rage and darkness.

"I can help you be the person you desire, if you help me."

Max stammered, "Um… yeah; sure! I'll do anything you want just make me smart like justin and strong like Alex."

"I was hoping you'd say that."

All of a sudden a black cloud appeared overhead and was absorbed by Max, turning his eyes red and his hair and complexion slightly darker. "Don't worry Max, I'll give you everything you want – just as soon as I destroy your sister!"

* * *

**Well I hope you enjoyed that! Considering it was a rushed piece of work. Most of it was done today, but hopefully it's not too bad.**

**Don't forget to review!**

**:D**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys, I know it's been like 5 months and I'm really sorry for that. And it'll probably be a while before I update again. While i was working on this chapter i planned out the rest of the story too and I've decided to finish the whole story before I start putting more chapters up.**

**Anyway R&R please.**

* * *

**Alex**

**ȸ**

"Are you ready?" she asked her brother, her eyes narrowing and the corners of her mouth curling downwards as she watched him for any signs of hesitation. Luckily he met her challenge and she could see just how determined he was by the fire in his eyes. They were about to teleport to the Kloden Wildwoods to begin their mission. The objective, to capture and bring back Mason and Juliet. Alex had devised a tracking spell with the help of Justin and she had, just moments ago, received the required spell to turn the two back.

"Okay then, let's go," she announced. She then started waving her wand with the intention of teleporting but a loud "Wait!" made her stop.

A disheveled Master Eraqus orbed into the room.

"Master Eraqus, what's wrong?" Justin asked while she remained silent, mocking Eraqus' appearance deep inside the caverns of her mind. It may have seemed cruel to anyone who knew what she was thinking, but really, the man looked like a hobo.

"I was attacked by some dark force," he said. "I was talking to Crumbs after Alex left and he attacked me. He was an impersonator, he revealed himself after he screwed up, as you young ones say, Crumbs' character."

"You're an all powerful Chosen," Alex deadpanned. "Are you seriously telling me that you couldn't fight him off?"

"I do not know," Eraqus stated solemnly. "I didn't stick around to find out. The man was using a very powerful glamour, meaning that he must have been quite capable in the field of magic. Or he was working for someone with great strength."

Alex rolled her eyes as she felt a headache coming on. This was just terrific! They were just about to rescue their partners and now they had to be on the lookout for some powerful evil psycho's.

"Miss Russo, I believe this evil is after you and your family. He seemed to want revenge. And oddly enough he was ranting about beards when I escaped."

Alex scoffed, not the least bit worried. She could deal with a psycho maniac wizard; what she couldn't deal with though, was a second longer away from her Mason. This was a girl with a mission, a love to fight for and nothing would stop her from getting what she wanted – and she wanted Mason.

"Beards?" Justin asked after a moment's silence, snapping Alex out of her determined thoughts. "That sounds familiar."

At that precise moment Alex's eyes widened, almost comically, as she realized the menace's identity; "Ronald Longcape Junior!" she exclaimed in surprise. She couldn't believe that the nasty little freak that pretended to love her, only to reveal himself to be a double crossing bastard! It filled her with ire just thinking about it.

"How did he get his powers back, or make them that powerful? I remember him being a creepy, slimy weasel that had to use you to do any serious magic."

"I don't even care!" the sorceress screamed. "I'll take the bastard down anyway!"

There was no way she would let that menace walk free, and as they said; hell hath no fury like a woman scorned – and if you think that's bad try a Wizard scorned. Ronald was about to endure a pain like no other in his god forsaken life.

But first, she had a wolf to save

**ȸ**

"Alex?" Justin's voice permeated the thick canopy of the Kloden Wildwood. "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah," she replied in a raspy voice, her throat as dry as sand paper from lack of use. The siblings had been silent as they worked their way up the forest, looking for Mason and Juliet. Alex's tracking spell wasn't working as well as they had hoped and so Mason could be anywhere in or beyond the forest.

"This is going to take forever! Isn't there another way to track them?"

"Why are you asking me?" Alex demanded.

"You're the chosen one here, aren't you?" he responded in quiet, almost mourning, voice that sounded nothing like the overbearing, cocky brother she had once known and grudgingly come to love.

Alex didn't know what she was expecting but her brother's response really startled her. "What is up with you?" She demanded again, this time lacking the usual bark in her voice. "I know I'm more powerful and I'm all serious now but you're still the smart one," Alex scoffed, feeling sick at his sudden insecurities. She did not do feelings and the only times that she did were either with Mason or by miracle, like the last heart to heart she had with Justin.

Justin stayed silent for a few moments, poker face on and lips stretched into a grim horizontal line, but his eyes; his eyes were full of so many emotions that none were decipherable. Eventually he nodded and smiled at his sister.

"Thanks," he said. "I really needed that."

"No problem," she replied. "You know how much I love to knock you down a peg. Except in this case I ended up lifting you up one inst-" Alex paused as she saw that her brother was no longer paying attention to her and instead had his eyes closed and seemed to be deep in thought. Alex raised her hand meaning to put it on his shoulder as a supportive gesture, but was cut off by the opening of his eyes.

"I know how to track them down."

**Justin**

**ȸ**

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Justin had to admit the shocked look on his sisters face was absolutely priceless.

"Already?"

The elder Russo nodded before turning around and kneeling down and picking up a small blue flower.

"Alex," he said. "Do you know what's in this flower?"

"Uh, plant sap or goo or whatever you call it," she answered, which was more than Justin expected after seeing the disinterested look on her face.

"Um, no that's no it; but that's still more than I expected from you so good job," Justin told his sister, who by the look on her face was clearly not impressed. Impatience was always one of his sister's biggest faults so naturally she just wanted him to get to the point. And if he didn't, well he should probably expect to be hung from another pole.

"Anyway," he continued, "this flower like all living things contains life essence or mana – you know that cliched aspect of magic they have in video games. It's one of the only things mortals got right about us."

I remember reading about a way to track something using it's mana. Problem is, mana magic is really complicated and only a few wizards can get the hang of it."

Disappointment flooded his sister's face, even as she tried to mask it with a look of nonchalance.

"Well," she said finally, "we'll just have to try it anyway. Hopefully one of us will be able to do what needs to be done."

Surprised at his sisters optimism, Justin nodded and began explaining what had to be done.

**ȸ**

"Okay, you try it first," Justin instructed. It was half an hour later and Alex had finally grasped the concept of what they were about to do.

"Okay," she replied. "Just give me a moment to focus."

Alex took a couple of deep breaths before closing her eyes and sitting down on the floor with her legs crossed. "Who first?" she asked.

"Juliet - if you don't mind, that is," Justin replied giving Alex a necklace that once belonged to Juliet.

Justin watched his sister take hold the necklace in between her hands before she went still for a few minutes. Eventually, the girl sighed and opened her eyes, the look in her eyes telling Justin all he needed to know.

Alex handed him the necklace, silently communicating her apologies. Justin just smiled reassuringly and repeated the steps that his sister did. First, Justin sat down cross legged before relaxing his body and mind. The wizard then focused his energies to tap into the 'frequency' of the mana around him. He gasped when he finally found it and could feel all the mana around him. The forest was just filled with life! He could feel everything around him, from the smallest ant, to the largest tree; and he could even feel his own sister who was making faces behind his back.

Justin concentrated again as he tried to get the second part of this task done. Tapping into the mana was relatively easy but controlling it was incredibly hard.

A headache was coming on, Justin could feel it throbbing distantly in the back of his head. Beads of sweat were also starting to form. He didn't know if he could do this much longer, the mental power needed was really taking its toll on him, but he was so close – to give up now would be absolutely obtuse.

He was so close. He could almost feel the mana start to respond and…success!

**Alex**

**ȸ**

It worked! Alex could barely suppress the excitement threatening to leak out of her as she saw her brother start to float. The sight was somewhat amusing and reminded her of those Asian mystics that meditated and floated while doing so. More so, the necklace and Justin's hands were glowing green, as were his eyes.

Minutes later, he descended again, his eyes flickering back to normal before all signs of magic disappeared.

"I think I know where she is," he said whilst an ear to ear grin overtook his face.

Alex smiled. Seeing Justin display such happiness, made her feel happy in turn. The fact that Juliet was her friend also contributed to her enthusiasm.

Justin laughed in delight. "You'll never guess where she is!" he exclaimed.

"Where," asked Alex?

Justin smirked and pretended to think. "Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't I tell you to guess?"

"You're in an awfully good mood," noted Alex. "Okay, let me guess, she's near our house?" A shake of his head. "In the Wizard World?" Wrong again. "Okay I give up! Tell me!"

"Right above us," he said. Alex's eyes widened as she frantically searched the canopy of the forest with her eyes. Nothing was there, however. Sending Justin a curious look, Alex called out as loud as she could. "Juliet, get your ass down here!"

"What do you want?" asked a tired old voice that was unmistakably feminine and familiar.

Alex rolled her eyes. Juliet must have lost many IQ points if she couldn't figure out what the duo wanted. "We want you to get down here."

"Very well," replied Juliet, after a few seconds of silence. Moments passed before a small rustling was heard and a bat flew down from the canopy of the Wildwood. Juliet landed a few feet away from them and then transformed into her human form, which was – to say the least – absolutely hideous. Her face was wrinkled and looked like it might fall of at any minute; her hair had lost its colour and appeared to contain at least a million species of lice and other dubious creatures.

As bad as her outer appearance was, Juliet's eyes were the worst of her features as they revealed all the sorrow she held within her heart.

"Why are you here?" Juliet demanded. Her voice however was lacking any force due to its raspy quality. "You shouldn't be here," she continued, not allowing them to answer. "I don't want you here. You shouldn't even be seeing me, I'm hideous!"

"Juliet, with all due respect, shut up!" Alex replied. "I know you don't want Justin to see you looking like a wrinkly old hag but I think he can make that decision for himself."

Justin nodded, stepping closer to Juliet and grabbing her hand – though Alex didn't know how he could stand to touch it. "I love you Juliet and no force on this planet is going to stop me from being with you. I don't care if you're a thousand years old, you're still the same Juliet I fell in love with. Besides," Justin let out a small smirk, "you're not staying that way for long."

Juliet had only a moment to look confused before Alex took out her wand and started chanting.

"_In this place and in this hour,_

_I call upon the Chosen's power_

_To restore a life impaired by hate,_

_Of two opposing races set apart by fate."_

With the final syllable uttered, a flash of light emitted from Alex's wand and there, standing in all her youthful glory was Juliet.


End file.
